The physician using donor milk for liver transplant patients, Harlan
Wright, MD, spoke at the annual meeting of the Human Milk Banking
Association of North America, held in Raleigh, NC, March 1, 1996.

Merhav HJ, Wright HI, Mieles LA, Van Thiel DH:  Treatment of IgA
deficiency in liver transplant recipients with human breast milk.
Transpl Int 8:327-329, 1995.

The patient is still receiving donor milk (I belive about 16 ounces a
day) and the insurance company is covering the cost since it is more
cost effective to pay for the milk than it is to pay for a
hospitalization for pneumonia (for example) and risk loss of the organ.
This will be a life time ttherapy for the recipient.  It is also my
understanding that this transplant team has also ordered donor milk for
an 8 year old with a small bowel transplant.  Human milk is the best
source of IgA for individuals who are deficient in this immunoglobulin.

Lois Arnold, MPH, IBCLC
Executive Director, HMBANA